“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us!” Romans 5:8

The CROSS is the pledge and standard of divine love!

The Father’s love is here–for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son! Christ’s love is here–the love that passes knowledge, the love which many waters could not quench, nor the floods drown; love to the uttermost; love grudging no toil, nor pain, nor weariness, nor reproach–for us!

Believer! If you want to know how much you have been loved, look to the cross of Jesus! That meets and answers all our doubts!

Something reminded me lately of how I found my current church, River City Grace (RCG). RCG has been a crucial means by which God has brought about repentance and sanctification in my life. I have been extremely blessed by God through my church.

I just want to encourage you if you aren’t attending church, please do! If you do, be sure to find one that is faithful to the preaching of the Word of God. One excellent scripture-based measure of a healthy church is the 9 Marks of a Healthy Church from 9Marks Ministries (Book; Kindle; Summary). These 9 marks will help guide you in finding that church where God will grow you through the preaching of His Word. They also have a Church Search you can use to find a good church in your area. If you’re not currently attending a good church give it a try! All it takes is a few seconds and a Sunday 😉

Life is the mightiest of all possessions. From death to life is the mightiest of all changes. And no change short of this will ever avail to fit a personâ€™s soul for heaven. It is not a little mending and alteration â€“ a little cleansing and purifying â€“ a little painting and patching â€“ a little whitewashing and varnishing â€“ a little turning over a new leaf and putting on a new outside that is needed. It is the bringing in of something altogether new â€“ the planting within us of a new nature, a new being â€“ a new principle â€“ a new mind. This alone, and nothing less than this, will ever meet the necessities of personâ€™s soul. We need not merely a new skin, but a new heart.

I was listening to Tim Challies and David Murray talk about entitlement today and this stuck out to me. Â Right now we’re in a time where people think we’re entitled to everything we want. Â This quote is specifically from David Murray about the only entitlement that we truly have.

As a Christian, I believe in oneÂ entitlement.

Iâ€™m entitled to Hell. Thatâ€™s the only entitlement I have. Thatâ€™s all I deserve, because of my sin. Anything else is grace, an unmerited bonus from the God of all grace. I donâ€™t deserve a breath of life, a crumb of food, a drop of water, a stitch of clothing, a cent in my wallet, or an hour of education. Iâ€™m not entitled to one friend, one vacation, one verse of Scripture, or even one sermon. Iâ€™m certainly not entitled to salvation and heaven. Iâ€™m entitled to damnation andÂ Hell.

That sense of entitlement makes me seek mercy, receive mercy, enjoy mercy, and be merciful to others. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, â€œWhat have I that I did not receive as a free gift of divine grace? How therefore can I ever boast as if I had actually been entitled to it or earned it?â€

So, there are basically only two ways to live: with a proud and angry sense of entitlement or with a humble and thankful sense ofÂ responsibility.

To summarize, â€œThe wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lordâ€ (Rom.Â 6:23).

You can listen to the full podcast on Challies website. Â It’s a quick listen, only about Â 14 minutes long, but very informative and packed with a lot of truth.